In part one of this series I discussed how the problem of the tyranny of the masses is mitigated by providing a parliamentary structure and allowing direct democracy only at certain intervals. In part two I discussed the downside to this, governments that do not listen to the people but indulge in their own ideologies. [...]

I see Len Brown wants to limit the spend on each candidate for the Auckland Mayoralty to $150,000. This is quite amusing, considering he has spend around that amount already. The man certainly has chutzpah… The actual amount spent by candidates on an election is not relevant. Despite Labour’s longtime gripe over election spending limits [...]

I’ve just heard that: President Ratu Josefa Iloilo revoked Fiji’s Constitution, appointed himself head of State and suspended all appointments to the judiciary This is the Fiji Military Junta’s response to being found to be an illegal government by the judiciary. Fire the judiciary and can the constitution. Without a constitution or an independent judiciary, Fiji [...]

John Key has promised a referendum on MPP at the same time as the 2011 election. He is currently in favour of the system known as Supplementary Member. There is an interesting discussion on the issue running over at Jafapete’s.  For those who are interested, Supplementary Member has the same system of electorate and list [...]